Palatability is the hedonic reward provided by foods or fluids that are agreeable to the palate with regard to the homeostatic satisfaction of nutritional, water, or energy needs of a human or animal. In other words, palatability describes how much a human or animal enjoys the taste, smell, and texture of a food. Palatability of food may be a property of the food, preferences of a human or animal eating the food, or both. In pursuit of palatability, spice and flavorful fats can be applied to or combined with food, and various preparation methods may be used to make the food smell and taste good.
Palatability, nutrition, and digestibility are core characteristics of pet food formulations because the nutritional benefits of pet food are realized only if the pet food is consumed and digested by the pet. A pet's response to pet food is an indicator of its palatability, and this response is perceived by the pet's owner. If a pet appears to be enjoying a pet food, then the pet owner believes that the particular food is palatable to his/her pet. This is an important benchmark that drives sales of pet food because a pet owner will generally purchase pet food that his/her pet appears to enjoy and consume. Therefore, the palatability of pet food is used to entice pets to consume digestible food that delivers nutrients to the pet to prolong and improve its overall health and quality of life.
Palatants are selected for pet food formulations to appeal to sensory capacities of the pet including olfactory, chemesthetic (chemical irritation), taste, and texture. Palatants are comprised of different macromolecules and micromolecules that include, but are not limited to, carbohydrates, fatty acids, proteins, peptides, amino acids, vitamins, etc. Palatants can be used to mask distasteful compounds in the pet food formulation, to improve visual or auditory impact of the pet food, and/or to enhance pet appetite. Pet food formulations tend to be complex, and the palatant(s) combined with the formulation must work in synergy with the diverse mixture of tastes, textures, and aromas—each with differing chemical, physical, and sensory characteristics—of the pet food to which it is applied.
Pet food palatability can vary from species to species. For example, smell is the primary attractant for dog food because dogs are carnivores. If a food smells good to a dog, then it is highly likely that the dog will consume the good-smelling food. After a couple of bites, taste or texture may have a secondary role in palatability for dogs, as well. Cats are obligate carnivores and have a more complex palate than dogs because, while cats taste substances that are salty, sour, or bitter—unlike humans and dogs—cats are not able to perceive sweet tastes. While smell and taste are important characteristics for cat food, the shape and texture of cat food can be equally as important.
The palatability of pet food is driven predominantly by taste and aroma. Conventionally-produced expanded food products can only contain a maximum amount of taste and aroma. Taste and aroma in conventional expanded food product is limited by the amount of palatant per unit of expanded food product mass that can be feasibly coated onto the expanded food product. Palatants can be liquid or dry. Current physical aspects of expanded food products that limit the amount of palatant able to be coated on include: (1) the exposed surface area per unit mass (e.g., moderate to high density of food product), (2) the amount of palatant that can be adhered to or infused into the expanded food product, and (3) the amount of fat that can be added to the expanded food product in order to bind a dry type of palatant. As a result, a limited amount of palatant can be coated onto the expanded food product, and, consequently, the expanded pet food is limited in the amount that palatability can be improved.
Another related problem currently faced by pet food manufacturers is degradation of nutrients and nutraceuticals that are incorporated directly into the expanded food product as a result of the extrusion process. The current industry solution to address this is to either over-fortify nutrients to account for the portion that will be lost during exposure to heat, pressure, and water during extrusion, or simply not use an expanded matrix to convey other health benefits available through nutraceuticals, for example. Because of the limited amount (typically less than 3%) of palatant that can be applied externally to the expanded food product, there is little or no room to apply heat-sensitive nutrients and nutraceuticals to the expanded food product after extrusion. A means to increase the amount of ingredients that are coated onto the external portion of the expanded food product would be desirable to reduce the costs associated with over-formulation of nutrients and to be able to utilize the benefits of some nutraceuticals.
Consumers typically enjoy the response they receive from watching their pet eat pet food. Given the current approach of making high-energy-dense, expanded food products, the time in which it takes a pet to eat their meal is relatively short. As a result, means that can lengthen the eating time provide more time for interaction between a consumer and his/her pet.
This invention addresses the aforementioned shortcomings of conventional expanded food products by providing a highly palatable, expanded food product comprising a low bulk density, porous matrix having a high surface area exposed to air per unit mass, and infused by vacuum coating with liquid palatant comprising flowable fat. The combination of a low bulk density porous matrix with fat infusion increases palatant application to levels up to and higher than 50% by total weight of the expanded food product. This provides a significantly high concentration of taste and aroma per piece of expanded food product that is also an energy dense food. For example, the expanded food product may have a metabolizing energy (ME) in a range from about 2 Kcal/g to about 6 Kcal/g or higher. Consequently, the ME significantly reduces calories per piece of food product by 80% or more when compared to conventional expanded food products. The lower calories per piece results in the animal needing to consume more expanded food product and thus lengthening the time with which the owner can enjoy the pet feeding experience.
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to expanded pet food products that improve upon or overcome one or more of the shortcomings of conventional products.
Some advantages of the invention for consumers and/or pets include the ability to: (1) increase the frequency of feeding with a low bulk density, expanded food product infused with a high volume of palatant and/or fat, (2) enjoy more bonding time with their pet(s) by providing a highly palatable product that the pet will enjoy consuming, (3) minimize the possibility of exceeding a pet's recommended caloric intake and, consequently, the propensity for obesity, and (4) deliver compositions with health benefits.
Some advantages of the invention specifically for pet food manufacturing include: (1) providing a highly palatable pet food with limited number of ingredients that enhances consumer perception of the quality of the pet food, (2) lower cost per treat having a higher physical volume, (3) increased consumer facing benefits at retail for the same unit mass which enhances consumer perception of quality of the pet food, (4) increased volume of food eaten by the pet which provides an expanded pet feeding experience for the owner to enjoy, and (5) a yield of a higher volumetric capacity of existing pet food production equipment.